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Schloss Gutenberg stands on a prominent rock. IT was founded by Luitold III of Waldstein, who moved into the castle in 1185. The castle has belonged to the Stubenberg family since 1288. The oldest section from the 12th century was supplemented by a 2-story bailey that is protected by two moats. The outer moat is bridged today, the inner was filled in. The castle was remodeled and expanded, mixing the medieval style with Renaissance elements. An irregular four-story building complex with an almost pentagonal footprint and similarly pentagonal courtyard. The rustic gate faces south.
The southwest corner with the Chapel of Saint Pancras constitutes the oldest section of the castle. The chapel, originally constructed over three stories like a tower, with galleries in both upper stories, was dedicated in 1365. Entry is on the first gallery with frescoes that were isolated by the later addition of a dome. The frescoes from the second half of the 14th century show St. Alfa, St. James the Elder, the Martyrs of Ten Thousand, St. George, and the Caravan of the Three Kings. The Romanesque window behind the altar now has modern glass.
A chapel from about 1721 stands on the access road. The second chapel is from the third quarter of the 18th century. Two stone figures, St. Anna and St. John Nepomuk, originally from Schloss Wieden at Kapfenberg, also stand along the access road. Both are by Veit Königer, from about 1770.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.